
that time. Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensa-
tion down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time that the message of
Christ's second coming is to be proclaimed."—The
Great Controversy,
page 356.
6.
What had Paul told the Thessalonians while he was yet
with them? 2 Thess. 2:5.
7.
As a result of Paul's oral instruction, what did the members
of the Thessalonian church know? Verse 6.
Nora.—Without a doubt, the apostle's oral instruction regarding the future
events referred to had been based upon the prophecies of Daniel. The
"man of sin," says Paul, should be revealed "in his time." He assured them
that there was
a
restraining power that would hold in check the forces of
evil, that they should not accomplish their ends prematurely. The time for
the rise of this power had been clearly set forth by the prophet Daniel. Not
until that world empire should be divided into ten kingdoms, and not until
three of these had been removed before it, could that power represented
by the little horn of Daniel 7:24, be seated upon the throne of universal
civil and religious rule. The Christians of the early centuries knew of these
prophecies, and they used to pray for the continuance of the Roman Empire,
because they dreaded the appearance of the antichrist, who would arise after
its division.
It is also true that behind the external power of civil governments there
is ever the divine power that restrains the working of the forces of evil. And
there were the restraining influences of the word of God and of His Spirit that
held back the development of the "falling away" or the apostasy in the
church. Not until the time should come when, by resisting the Holy Spirit
and setting aside the word of God, His own church would refuse to be guided
by Him, could the apostate power so exalt itself as to sit in the seat of God. •
8.
How does the apostle more specifically portray the restraint
of the workings of the enemy until the appointed time? What would
eventually be done to this hindering power? 2 Thess. 2:7.
9.
With the removal of the restraining power, who should be
revealed? What should be done with him? Verse 8.
NorE.—This verse clearly introduces the portrayal of final events that
take place in dose connection with the second coming of Christ. After pro-
bation has closed, "when the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly with-
drawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the outburst of human
passion and satanic wrath," the inhabitants of earth will see "as never before,
the results of Satan's rule."—The
Great Controversy,
page 37.
"As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will
personate Christ. . . . In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest
himself among men as a
majestic
being of dazzling brightness, resembling
the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. The
glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have
yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air, 'Christ has come!
Christ has come!' . . . Only those who have been diligent students of the
Scriptures, and who have received the love of the truth, will be shielded
23